Ellen dresses like a Kardashian, wins Halloween

For her Halloween-themed episode, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres dressed up as “Karla” Kardashian, the famous family’s’ “lesser known sister.” “I’m a big part of the family, but for some reason I’m always cut out of the show.

Just two weeks after the talk-show host aired a tasteless sketch that used a young black girl in padding to ridicule Nicki Minaj’s much-discussed backside, DeGeneres flaunted a new Halloween costume that gives the same treatment to the Kardashian clan. Wearing enormous fake breasts and a jet black wig Ellen appeared superimposed onto photos of Kourtney, Khloe, Kim, Kendall, Kylie and mother Kris Jenner. Rocking leggings, an animal-print blouse from Khloé, and a pair of sneakers from Kim —along with what she claims are “double-K” breasts — DeGeneres says she’s landed a lucrative endorsement deal with Funyons.

Meanwhile, Kelly Ripa, the host of US ABC’s morning show Live With Kelly And Michael, spoofed Kim Kardashian’s famous cover shoot for Paper magazine. She also previewed a trailer for the upcoming season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians that will feature the sixth Kardashian-Jenner sister for the first time. The Nicki Minaj skit drew comparisons to minstrel shows and the kind of exoticized fascination with black women’s bodies embodied by the sexual freak-show slavery of Saartjie Baartman, the “Hottentot Venus,” in the early 1800s. Minaj was also the target of DeGeneres’s 2013 Halloween costume, which centered on a cardigan with just the top button secured and nothing underneath. It was a direct hit on the outfit Minaj had worn as a guest on the show. “Nicki was on the show a few weeks ago,” DeGeneres quipped in that Halloween episode, “and her shirt was not.” Whether it’s in Halloween costumes or everyday humor, when criticizing someone’s appearance, the line of decency lies between performative characteristics (long fingernails, gaudy jewelry) and innate ones (weight, chest size).